Mind + Body: March 2018

Building Beautiful Communities: A recent service project benefitted local communities in the New Orleans area.

More than 1,000 Anheuser-Busch employees and wholesaler partners joined Keep America Beautiful, local affiliate Keep Louisiana Beautiful and Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser to beautify New Orleans’ community environments. As part of the event, participants built picnic tables and painted murals. The service project is part of Anheuser-Busch’s annual Sales and Marketing Communications Conference, which brings thousands of employees and business partners to New Orleans from across the country. For many years, the service project has kicked off the annual wholesaler meeting and has become a staple of the conference.

The event kicked off with Michel Doukeris, president and CEO of Anheuser-Busch, and Katja Zastrow, vice president of corporate social responsibility – Better World at Anheuser-Busch, presented Keep America Beautiful with a check for $120,000. Lieutenant Governor Nungesser also joined the effort to support the New Orleans community by taking part in the service project.

“We would especially like to thank Anheuser-Busch for the many ways they support communities across Louisiana, from recent water donations during Hurricane Harvey to [this] important project,” Nungesser says.

Sun Safety: Follow these tips to minimize sun exposure.

Spring is in the air, and that means we’ll all likely spend more time outdoors. However, exposure to the sun — even on overcast days — can cause sunburn, skin aging (such as skin spots and wrinkles), eye damage and skin cancer. None of that is pleasant in the least, nor worth the tan that will just fade away anyway. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 71,943 people diagnosed with melanoma of the skin — the most serious form of skin cancer — in 2013 alone. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration published an article on its Consumer Updates page that provides these tips to increase sun safety:

• Limit your time in the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the sun’s rays are most intense.
• Wear clothing to cover skin exposed to the sun — such as long-sleeve shirts, pants, sunglasses and broad-brim hats.
• Use broad-spectrum sunscreens with SPF of 15 or higher regularly and as directed.
• Apply sunscreen liberally to all uncovered skin, especially your nose, ears, neck, hands, feet and lips.
• Reapply at least every two hours. Apply more often if you’re swimming or sweating.
• Choose sunglasses labeled with a UVA/UVB rating of 100 percent to get the most UV protection.

Maria’s Pick — Going Vegan: A new cookbook acts as a common-sense guide about how to eat truly healthfully as a vegan.

Fitness and diet expert Melody Schoenfeld recently released a new cookbook entitled Pleasure Not Meating You: A Science-Based Approach to the Vegan Lifestyle (And Some Recipes, Too) ($25, Evil Munky Publishing). If you’ve ever watched any of the Netflix health documentaries like the popular In Health We Trust, you may have gotten terrified about animal products and turned vegan — for about a week. Schoenfeld, who has been vegan for nearly 20 years, says that everyone needs to start looking at the real science behind being vegan, and make an informed decision about their own health and eating habits from there. This information is exactly what she sets out to provide in Pleasure Not Meating You. In the book, Schoenfeld debunks some of the top vegan myths and presents the facts behind some of the most fascinating vegan benefits. It has also been reviewed by decidedly non-vegan experts to ensure accurate, unbiased information.

“This book provides information on basic cooking skills along with some of Schoenfeld’s easy-to-make vegan recipes,” says Maria Muro, publisher of New Orleans Living. “It’s great for vegans looking for new dishes to make or for anyone considering making the switch to veganism. I especially like the ‘Almost Instant Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup.” pleasurenotmeatingyou.com